Boonville: Missing man in found after spending overnight in the bush

On Tuesday, Dec. 4, around 7 p.m. the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office received a report of a missing hiker, 58 year old John Kraus, in the area of 23711 Fish Rock Road, in Boonville. The reporting party, Kraus' brother, advised that on Monday, Dec. 3, around 11 a.m., his brother and a longtime family friend left a remote cabin to go hiking during the early afternoon. At one point in the hike the two friends parted, planning to later meet at a predesignated location. The friend arrived at the rally point but Kraus never arrived. The friend looked for Kraus but was unable to locate him. The following day the friend again looked for Kraus but was unable to find him. The friend contacted Kraus' brother, who then reported him missing to the Anderson Valley Fire Department.

Mendocino County Sheriff's Office Search and Rescue coordinated efforts with the Anderson Valley Fire Department, meeting with searchers at a nearby ranch on the morning of Wednesday, Dec. 5. An extensive search effort was conducted, including ground searchers from Comptche Fire Department, Anderson Valley Fire Department, Mendocino County Search and Rescue, and local ranching families.

Around 3:30 p.m. Kraus was located, alive and well, approximately 2 miles west of where he was last seen. Kraus walked out to a road and flagged down help from a local property owner who then transported him to the incident command post that had been set up to conduct the search. Kraus was found to be suffering from exhaustion, lack of sleep, was mildly dehydrated and was cold but otherwise in good physical condition. He was examined by EMT's on the scene and released to family members. Kraus reported he'd gotten confused in the brushy steep terrain and gotten lost.

The Mendocino County Sheriff's Office would like to thank the Anderson Valley Fire Department, the Comptche Fire Department, the Pronsolino Family, and Larry Mailliard for their assistance with the Search efforts.